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Lamar County Multi- Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan <br />Chapter Three <br />HAZARD PROFILE: Section Six — Thunderstorms (Including Wind & Lightning) <br />1. Description <br />Thunderstorms disrupt more lives than any other form of <br />weather. Produced by a cumulonimbus cloud, a <br />thunderstorm is an atmospheric disturbance with lightning <br />and thunder. Lightning is generated by the buildup of <br />charged ions in a thundercloud. When that buildup <br />interacts with the best - conducting object or surface on the <br />ground, the result is a discharge of a lightning bolt. <br />Lightning is a major threat during a thunderstorm. Each <br />year in the U.S. 75 to 100 people are hit and killed by <br />lightning. A bolt of lightning can reach temperatures of <br />over 50,000 degrees F. <br />Thunderstorm Facts <br />* No place in the U.S. is <br />immune to <br />thunderstorms. <br />* 2000 thunderstorms are <br />in progress around the <br />world at any given <br />moment. <br />* Less than 1% of all <br />thunder t h <br />Thunder is the sound of the shock wave produced by the <br />s orms I <br />rapid heating and cooling of the air near <br />the lightning bolt. <br />severe levels. <br />The typical thunderstorm is 15 miles <br />in diameter and lasts an average of <br />Lightning Facts <br />30 minutes nad may also be <br />* One death occurs for every 345,000 flashes <br />accompanied by high winds, rain, <br />* 100 lightning strikes happen worldwide every <br />and hail. A thunderstorm is <br />second. <br />considered severe if it produces hail <br />* The average lightning flash could light a 100 <br />at least 3/ inch in diameter, or high <br />watt bulb for 3 months <br />damaging winds 58mph or greater. <br />The high winds may be in the form <br />0 Can reach temperatures five times hotter <br />of straight -line winds or a microburst <br />than the sun. <br />While thunderstorms are capable of <br />producing tornadoes, hail, and floods, this Hazard Mitigation plan profiles these events as <br />separate natural hazards. <br />The National Weather Service distinguishes between straight -line winds and tornadoes when <br />surveying storm damages. Straight -line wind damage will push debris in the same direction the <br />wind is blowing while a tornado will scatter the debris in a variety of different directions. The <br />general public often believes a tornado has occurred when it is really straight -line winds. <br />Straight -line winds can be as powerful as a tornado. <br />101 <br />